Monday, January 25, 2010

Detox Just to Retox

Now that I'm back to my old cake-eatin', wine-drinkin', coffee-sippin' ways, I guess its time for an Adventure Cleanse Tune-Up wrap-up post. I started my 22-day cleanse (it was supposed to be 26 days, but who's counting?) off with a bang on January 1st — no sugar, no coffee, no alcohol, no gluten, no processed food, and raw meals until dinner.

Green Juices were my morning foundation, and they typically consisted of kale or collards, apple, cucumber, celery, and sometimes ginger. Every once in awhile, I'd throw in a beet to turn my green juice into red juice:

I didn't really mind eating raw until dinner, but I was always very thankful for warm cooked food at night. Honestly, eating a mostly raw diet didn't make me feel much different. I did start to notice my hunger regulate though. When eating all raw on my monthly Raw Food Tuesdays, I tended to stay hungry all day. But during the cleanse, I easily filled up on raw food like this Zucchini Pasta Pomodoro from The Raw Food Revolution:

Or this Walnut Currant Squash "Rice" from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. The rice is made from finely chopped butternut squash!

Eating raw certainly felt clean, but I missed the hell out of bread. Peanut butter and ricemallow creme sandwiches are my favorite thing in the world, but I had to avoid those during the cleanse.

Steering clear of sugar was no picnic either. I swear I swooned at the sight of a piece of candy on the ground in my office parking lot one day. I looked at that half-eaten, squished-up gummi bear and thought, "ooh, candy!" I had to stop myself from picking it up off the crusty asphalt and popping it into my mouth. Yep, it was that bad. Gummi bears aren't even vegan. I don't know what had gotten into me.

And don't even get me started on coffee. All I can say is coffee and I belong together, and we shall never part again. In the past couple of days, since I've been drinking coffee, I finally feel like myself again. I never experienced any detox symptoms unless you count the occasional emotional breakdown over coffee in the first week.

As for alcohol, let's just say weekends are no fun without a glass or two of red wine. And bars are intolerably loud, obnoxious places unless you've got a couple beers in ya ... that's what I've discovered over the past month.

But I'm not totally going back to my old ways. Here are some changes I plan to implement as a result of my ACT cleanse:

Since I cannot afford to green juice daily (I spent way too much during this cleanse!), I will substitute a daily dose of Amazing Grass SuperFood powder. It's loaded with healthy green stuff and it's cheaper than daily juicing.

I will attempt to limit evaporated cane juice and turbinado (I don't do white sugar anyway) to a couple of times per week. And I'll try not to buy too many products that contain added sugar. Most days, dessert will be fruit or something sweetened with brown rice syrup, maple syrup, molasses, or agave.

I will start drinking my coffee with agave and unsweetened soymilk instead of turbinado and soy creamer.

I will eat more raw foods. Instead of limiting myself to a once-a-month raw day, I plan to make several raw meals each month.

I will eat a salad or cooked greens (or both) everyday, when possible.

I will try to only buy vegan wines and drink good beer (no more Bud Light just because it's cheap).

I will continue to dry brush daily. I never mentioned this before, but ACT requires that you brush your skin with a bristly brush each morning before hopping in the shower. It sloughs away dead skin and gets your circulation moving.

I will continue to work out 5 days a week — some spent in classes (like boxing, spinning, and yoga), others spent training to run.

And that, my friends, concludes this crazy-long cleanse (and this crazy-long post .... sorry about that). I'm headed to San Francisco on Wednesday for a work conference, so I won't be posting again until next Sunday. Have a great week!

What a fantastic adventure you just had. I think the fact that you let yourself "cheat" for a friend's birthday just proves you embrace real health and balance(of body, mind, and spirit.) Never letting oneself "cheat" and being overly obsessive just makes life too stressful and boring!

...and you learned so much from your cleanse! It's great that you are taking so many good-fo-yo-body practices away form this.

P.S. I know, why does juicing have to be so expensive!? I have done juice- only detoxes (this is when the aforementioned obsessiveness was a big part of my life) before that almost broke the bank!

it sounds like you've taken away a lot from the cleanse - that's so awesome! i'm cutting out refined sugar and limiting my sweet stuff, too. it's like crack to me and i need some control. ah ha ha! i need to get back into dry brushing, too. i still have my dry brush, i just always forget about it. it makes your skin feel so good, and i always liked taking a few minutes out of my busy day to brush. :) 22 days on the ACT cleanse is tough as hell - congrats, Bianca! and there's no shame in cake-eatin', wine-drinkin', & coffee-sippin' ways! :)

Congratulations Bianca!!! Woohoo! I like the sound of your goals and plan to implement several of those myself. I really want to experiment with raw meals - never really done that before. I saw that green powder you mentioned in a GNC the other day and was curious about it. I'd like to try it as well.

I followed your cleanse experience with interest. I don't see myself doing one any time soon, but I admire your dedication. I've considered the green smoothie thing but didn't realize how pricey they could become - investing in some Amazing Grass is a great alternative. Thanks for the suggestion!

I have been making green smoothies for breakfast or lunch for a few weeks now and use tonnes of greens. I actually found my grocery bill was much cheaper! I'm surprised that produce (especially home-grown things like kale and collards) are so pricey for you.

Congrats on finishing! I felt like it helped me sort out some goals too. I will never abandon my coffee or sweet treats, but teh ACT and E2L plans really helped me put self-control into action. Have fun retoxing!!!

Congrats! I have two quick questions: what kind of brush is used for the dry brush? Also, I've been window shopping to buy a juicer. OUCH re: the price! You mentioned you have a Jack L., which seem much more affordable than many I've looked at. Can you give info on what model it is?

Vegan Valerie and Kristen,For dry brushing, I use a palm bristle brush that I bought at Whole Foods. But I've heard you can also just use a dry loofah. You start at your feet and gently brush up, covering your whole body. You can also do a circular motion on any cellulite to help ease it away.

On the juicer: I do have a Jack Lalanne. It was a Xmas gift, so I don't know how much it cost. It works wonders though. I don't know what model it is either...but I consider a vital kitchen tool.

I got my Jack Lalaine juicer as a gift too, but I know my mom found it on sale for about $70.00. I think they usually run in the $80.00 - $90.00 range. I got mine a couple of years ago, so not sure about the model or if the price has changed.

Interesting to read your thoughts at the end of the detox. I don't have a big sweet tooth, but I bet I would notice it if I consciously tried to cut down my sugar intake. I know exactly what would happen if I quit coffee :) Great further goals too! I'd love to be with you on the good beer one, but cheap is just too attractive. Congratulations for doing this!

Congrats on the cleanse! This post really helps people to know some ideas of the detox. In the market there are so many products available. Many grocery stores tender detox products in their produce section, without even comprehending it and some of them are broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic and so many. These are very little lists of detox products.

Great round up of your cleanse experience! I've enjoyed reading about it, and I admire you for how seriously you committed! Hope you can now get back to a wee bit of coffee and wine and keep it all in moderation, dear B!

FYI, you can buy vegan gummie bears. They do exist! They are made by Let's Do Organic! and they rock! I buy them for my son b/c they have no artificial dyes. Thanks for your blog and I look forward to seeing your cookbook!

I love your goals! they sound reasonable and achievable! I am a huge fan of Amazing Grass myself and I take the little packets with me when I travel since I know I can't green juice every day and I find that they really give me a good pick me up!

I love all of your goals! I loved following your ACT tune up challenge. Isnt juicing expensive! I love love love juicing but its so expensive, I stick to smoothie making so I can get all of the good stuff in. Perhaps I should look into getting some amazing grass too, although I know that thats not cheap either.

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